Vision Visits Panama: The Quest for a Quetzal

[Vision]

DAY 10: Boquete Tree Trek
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In the morning I walked around the hotel grounds for a little bit, which were very bird-rich. Apart from more sightings of the birds from the day before, I got another good amount of additions - really fun birding here! The first agouti since the ones in Panama City was a great sight as well.

545) Orange-billed nightingale-thrush, Catharus aurantiirostris
546) Flame-coloured tanager, Piranga bidentata
547) White-throated thrush, Turdus assimilis
548) Lesser goldfinch, Spinus psaltria
549) Rufous-capped warbler, Basileuterus rufifrons
550) Lesser greenlet, Hylophilus decurtatus
551) Rufous mourner, Rhytipterna holerythra
552) Isthmian wren, Cantorchilus elutus
553) Buff-throated saltator, Saltator maximus
554) Lesser elaenia, Elaenia chiriquensis

The plan for this day was to head to the Boquete Tree Trek and have a guided walk there over a set of fairly famous hanging bridges. The Boquete Tree Trek area has two main attractions: a walk over the bridges with a guide talking about the nature, and a climbing trail that had various zip lines. While they are always fun, the hanging bridges interested us more, so we joined the guided walk which proved to be very exciting. The guide knew a lot about plants and animal marks (we saw a few armadillo holes - no armadillos, though!), and also knew a fair bit about the birds in the neighbourhood, which was fun. Apparently the area of forest the bridges and ziplines are in also gets visited by quetzals, but our guide told us we were here in the wrong season.

I feel like this is probably a good moment to explain the dynamics of seeing quetzals in Panama. Overall they're a fairly easy bird to connect with in the country, but there is a catch - they are only really straightforward to see from February until May. This corresponds largely with the tourist high season in Panama, and also with the season that is generally seen as favorable for birders, so most people don't have many issues with seeing quetzals. Outside this season, though, the fruit trees closer to the birding trails and villages stop providing them with food so most of them move further away into more difficult and less-known areas. They also become solitary and a lot less active from May onwards, to avoid being seen by predators - being huge, slow and colourful of course has its negatives as well.

Two of the guides near the visitor center told me I shouldn't expect to see any quetzals around Boquete during this time of the year, and they were right - we didn't see any quetzals on the walk. We did see a lot of other great birds though, and especially for hummingbirds this place is definitely one I can recommend: besides the Panamanian endemic white-throated mountaingem we also saw 7 other species of hummingbird. Overall this was a very informative and interesting walk, with a lot of good birds despite a fairly quick pace with a fairly large group.

555) Blue-and-white swallow, Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
556) White-throated mountaingem, Lampornis castaneoventris
557) Lesser violetear, Colibri cyanotus
558) Scintillant hummingbird, Selasphorus scintilla
559) Green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula
560) Purple-throated mountaingem, Lampornis calolaemus
561) Yellow-bellied elaenia, Elaenia flavogaster
562) Dark pewee, Contopus lugubris
563) Black-faced solitaire, Myadestes melanops
564) Violet sabrewing, Campylopterus hemileucurus
565) Scarlet-thighed dacnis, Dacnis venusta

Normally we were going to visit a coffee plantation in the afternoon, but unfortunately it was no longer possible to do a tour after we came back from the tree trek. This meant that the coffee plantation visit would have to move over to the next day (which definitely was responsible for a few issues - more about that in the next post). It also meant that I could spend a bit more time birding the hotel grounds, however, which was still great and still got me some new great species. The swallow-tailed kite was definitely a big highlight for me, and one that I had been looking for ever since arriving in Panama!

566) Swallow-tailed kite, Elanoides forficatus
567) Rufous-and-white wren, Thryophilus rufalbus
568) Mountain elaenia, Elaenia frantzii
569) Scarlet-rumped tanager, Ramphocelus passerinii

Overall it was a fantastic day with many great new additions in the form of the only endemic bird species of the trip and a good amount of near-endemics. However, I was starting to get a bit concerned about the one bird this trip was really centered around, as we were going to leave early in the morning in two days. It'd all have to happen tomorrow, and chances weren't looking that great...

 

[AWP]

Apparently the area of forest the bridges and ziplines are in also gets visited by quetzals

I had the luck to see one at Boquete Tree Trek. On the other hand, your hummingbird list for this location is very nice, as I saw a few and was able to identify only one...

 

[Vision]

I had the luck to see one at Boquete Tree Trek. On the other hand, your hummingbird list for this location is very nice, as I saw a few and was able to identify only one...

Interesting! I found that the best place for the hummingbirds was right in front of the 'visitor center' where we had to sign up, that's where I had the highest amounts of the entire trip (mainly of white-throated mountaingems, but also a few scintilliant hummingbirds, snowy-bellied hummingbirds, rufous-tailed hummingbirds and lesser violetears there). The rest was in the forests themselves, and a lot tougher to photograph and identify indeed!

 

[birdsandbats]

Just curious, did you try putting up any hummingbird feeders yourself, like near where you were staying? I had heard this can be an easy way to tick of species.

 

[Vision]

Just curious, did you try putting up any hummingbird feeders yourself, like near where you were staying? I had heard this can be an easy way to tick of species.

Not really, no! I did cut open a few oranges that I laid on tables outside of our rooms a few time for other birds, but they never seemed to gather that much attention. I've noticed with feeders that you have to give birds the time to find them, and in most places we were only there for a few days so never really long enough for it to be worth the effort. Of course I'm not used to the dynamics of hummingbirds though, so they might be the exception! However with a total of 19 species over the 19 days we were there, I don't think I can really say I'm lacking in the hummingbird department after this trip!

 

[Vision]

DAY 11: Sendero Los Quetzales
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This day was going to have to be the day that it all happened. We were leaving right after breakfast in the next morning to go to the Bocas del Toro in the North, so this was going to be the last day in the mountains, and the last day in the range of the superb, magnificent and indeed resplendent quetzal.

But the odds weren't looking that great. Family holidays are incredibly fun, and I am of course extremely grateful to have been able to come along, but the one thing they're not that great for is the planning of birding trips. This is of course logical when travelling with non-birders, and not their fault at all! It's normal that not the entire world would like to get up at 4AM just to arrive at a certain place that might be favorable for potential views of a distant bird. However, while having a very elaborate breakfast well into the morning I was growing more and more anxious. When we arrived to the "Sendero los quetzales" ("Trail of the quetzals" in English) it was already 9AM, and because we hadn't been able to visit the coffee plantation the day prior that meant that at 11AM we'd have to start turning around to arrive at the coffee plantation on time. Two hours for a bird in the wrong season, for which the best place of the trail was a two hour walk away from the entrance... I wasn't liking my chances.

Interestingly enough, for such an interesting and beautiful habitat, the birding here was actually fairly slow. We didn't really see that many species, and a vast majority of them gave only very distant, short views. Here, possibly more than anywhere else in Panama, was where the mixed species foraging flocks really came into play - you wouldn't see anything for half an hour, and then suddenly a small mixed flock would appear. The species in them were always great, though, with the highlights being woodcreepers, treerunners, tapaculos, chlorospinguses and a single solitaire.

When we suddenly saw another family that had passed us on the beginning of the trail stop and look at a largeish bird, I started to really get excited. Not quite quetzals yet, but in front of me were two black guans! A female and a young, giving some good but short views. It's super weird to see how arboreal they actually are, never really coming down to the ground at all and instead spending most of the time climbing very quickly and easily through the thick foliage at eye level or above. Later we encountered another two birds, of which one gave very nice views and allowed for some decent pictures. Most of the other species seen here were definitely also some of my favourite birds of the trip overall, definitely the treerunner and nightingale-thrush were fantastic sightings.

570) Slate-throated whitestart, Myioborus miniatus
571) Vaux's swift, Chaetura vauxi
572) Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
573) Elegant euphonia, Euphonia elegantissima
574) Ruddy treerunner, Margarornis rubiginosus
575) Silvery-fronted tapaculo, Scytalopus argentifrons
576) Black guan, Chamaepetes unicolor
577) Ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush, Catharus frantzii
578) Sooty-capped chlorospingus, Chlorospingus pileatus
579) Spot-crowned woodcreeper, Lepidocolaptes affinis

During all this birding, however, the clock was ticking. We had only just crossed the final stream that'd take us into the area where the quetzals would be most likely in the right season, and it was already dangerously close to 11AM. I decided that for the next 20 minutes it would probably be best to walk and bird the trail as quickly as I could, to maximize the area I'd see and to maximize the amount of time I'd have while walking back to the entrance. At 11AM on the clock I still hadn't seen anything so I decided to wait for the rest of my family at a bench in a space that seemed the most likely to give quetzal sightings - a well-covered canopy with very little medium-sized plants, that made it possible to see very far into the jungle. On the day prior I had heard the guides whistling the quetzal's very simple song, so in a last ditch effort I tried that...

And it worked! In the distance I could see a large, green bird swooping down from behind a bush and onto another branch, where it ruffled its feathers for a few seconds and then stayed completely and almost unnaturally still, except occasionally turning its head. A beautiful, still fairly long-tailed male quetzal, in plain (but very distant) sight. What a sight! This might be cliché, but it is easily one of my favourite birds, they definitely live up to their reputation. It stayed there, almost motionless, until long after my family arrived, and I was able to show the bird to both my family and the family that had found us the black guans. Needless to say, the idea of turning back at 11AM was thrown out of the window and half an hour later I was still looking at this bird.

580) Resplendent quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno

On the way back to the entrance we got another few nice sightings, the nicest of which a trogon I had been hoping for. Collared trogon is an interesting case, because until recently it was split into two species by most authorities - collared trogon and orange-bellied trogon. However, recently it was found out that orange-bellied is very probably only a subspecies, or perhaps even just a colour morph of collared trogon. Both collared (with the red belly) and orange-bellied occur in Sendero los quetzales, but I only saw one with a red belly.

581) Collared trogon, Trogon collaris
582) Tufted flycatcher, Mitrephanes phaeocercus
583) Green kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana
584) Black phoebe, Sayornis nigricans

Because we had spent a lot of time at the quetzal we had to hurry a little bit to have lunch before getting to the coffee plantation, but everything ended up working out in the end. The coffee plantation was a very interesting experience as well, and the guide there told us about the entire fair trade debate, and it not necessarily being as fair as the name would suggest, followed by a tour of the place and a coffee tasting afterwards. Interesting and informative, and definitely something I'd recommend to anyone - but prioritize properly on seeing a quetzal first if you're in the area!

 

[AWP]

I found that the best place for the hummingbirds was right in front of the 'visitor center' where we had to sign up The rest was in the forests themselves, and a lot tougher to photograph and identify indeed!

That was the spot I saw a purple-throated mountaingem, just before leaving. The others were in the forests.

Great you saw a quetzal at last! Black guan is also a very nice sighting (as is the rest of your species list). I haven't seen that species in the wild, but I did see some crested guans that are also quite arboreal.

 

[Vision]

That was the spot I saw a purple-throated mountaingem, just before leaving. The others were in the forests.

Great you saw a quetzal at last! Black guan is also a very nice sighting (as is the rest of your species list). I haven't seen that species in the wild, but I did see some crested guans that are also quite arboreal.

Excellent! Crested guan is one I would really have liked to see as well, but I'm happy I got to see the black guans - both are amazing birds! I was really blown back by the way they ran and hopped through the trees, almost more cuckoo- or turaco-like than anything else! I had seen chachalacas do this in captivity, but all guans I've seen in zoos have either been 'terrestrial' because of the lack of tall foliage in most aviaries, or inactive in the zoos that did have them in large exhibits with tall plants (Toronto, Burgers, Leipzig, Paris). It was really cool to see them doing what they do best!

 

[Vision]

DAY 12: Travelling to Bocas del Toro
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Another quick tour in the morning didn't fail to impress - Boquete still had three new great species to offer! One of those was the first "real" vireo of the year, after seeing having seen 4 other species in the Vireonidae family, none of which called vireo! White-winged tanager was another great one because it meant I had less pressure to make it back to Avifauna for theirs, and the pigeon was one I had been hoping to see as well. Great birding here! It felt a bit disappointing to have to leave already to the much less birdy lowlands again, but at the same time new places always mean new birds, and the islands we were going to held quite a few good ones.

585) Band-tailed pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata
586) White-winged tanager, Piranga leucoptera
587) Brown-capped vireo, Vireo leucophrys

The drive from Boquete to Bocas del Toro was a quite uneventful one. The only real highway in the country is the Pan-American Highway in the Southern half of the country, and all of the roads in and towards the North were a lot less easy to drive - most of the way was driving through curvy roads down the Caribbean foothills. I believe that in July most of these foothills would be full of altitudinal migrants headed from the mountains to the lowlands, the most notable of them being the loudest bird on the planet, but as there isn't a whole lot to do between Boquete and Bocas we didn't really stay here for long. Along the way I did see a few more sloths and a pair of bicoloured hawks, which was a nice addition and the only Accipiter of the trip (even though half of the Buteonine raptors in the neotropics look more like Accipitrine raptors to begin with - I'm starting to understand why Americans just call all medium-sized raptors 'hawks'!).

588) Bicoloured hawk, Accipiter bicolor

The first few hours near and in Bocas del Toro were a bit hectic. The Bocas del Toro are a group of islands off the Caribbean coast, and to get from each island to the other there's an intricate system of water taxis. On most islands, except for on the largest two, there aren't really any roads, meaning that everything is only really accessible by boat. We arrived in the evening and hadn't realized that there would be no restaurants or shops anywhere on the island we were staying, so shortly after we arrived in the hotel we took a boat back to the main island to have dinner (candle-lit, because the lights fell out in the entire island chain) and buy supplies so we could cook the next few days. Fairly quickly I got a few more additions, including some very nice ones like the mango, bananaquit and tanagers. Bananaquits are tiny! Probably the rarest bird of the entire trip (though I didn't realize it was that rare while seeing it) was an olive-throated parakeet on the main island, which is apparently a hard bird to see and not much about the species on the islands is known.

589) Green heron, Butorides virescens
590) Green-breasted mango, Anthracothorax prevostii
591) Tropical pewee, Contopus cinereus
592) Bananaquit, Coereba flaveola
593) Plain-coloured tanager, Tangara inornata
594) White-lined tanager, Tachyphonus rufus
595) Olive-throated parakeet, Eupsittula nana

 

[Vision]

As you will see this post includes three whole days, as I wasn't able to do a whole lot of wildlife-watching on these islands - the birds there are great, but fairly limited in number of species.

DAY 13: Bocas del Toro - Isla Solarte
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The first day was a bit of a resting day, so we stayed on the island of the hotel (Isla Solarte). As mentioned in the previous post there weren't really any roads connecting the various buildings/resorts/hotels on the island so we were sort of stuck here, but overall it was still a nice day with some good additions. By this time my life list was somewhere in the 990's and my year list somewhere in the 590's, so I knew that it'd be possible to reach both today. There were a few paths headed into the mangroves and lowland forests, which I birded in the morning and where I saw a couple of nice species - Montezuma oropendola probably taking the crown. Giant cowbird was "officially" my 1000th wild bird species ever, though that has since been reshuffled a bit with re-identifications (it is now the seedfinch, but I'm sure it will keep changing as taxonomy keeps changing - cowbird will definitely be remembered as the 1000th). Both a ringed and a green kingfisher were nice sights as well, as were the large amounts of rainforest rocket frogs and strawberry poison dart frogs!

596) Thick-billed seed finch, Oryzoborus funereus
597) Montezuma oropendola, Psarocolius montezuma
598) Giant cowbird, Molothrus oryzivorus
599) Blue-chested hummingbird, Amazilia amabilis

The hotel, even though fairly basic and limited for the price we paid (we couldn't even lock one of the two doors...), was fun because it had kayaks we could use to our own liking. The water between the islands apparently holds a fairly large population of bottlenose dolphins and there were still a few water birds I was missing here, so I was definitely excited to do some kayakking. It got even better when we found a weird patch of mangrove through which we could manoeuvre our kayaks (a really cool place, though I think the 'path' we took had been man-made because near the end of it were some trash bags... sigh). At the end of the mangrove, as it transitioned into a lowland forest, there was an open clearing that looked promising and rightfully so, as suddenly a pair of manakins flew by right in front of me! I didn't get great views, but I did hear the snapping of the male's wings and see various flashes of a tiny yellow-green-black bird - I wish I had had my camera with me!

600) Golden-collared manakin, Manacus vitellinus

In the afternoon I went out for another walk in the same place as the day before and got a few more additions, including three fairly unique species - the band-tailed barbthroat being a fairly evolutionary distinct species of hummingbird, the bay wren a very colourful and large species of wren, and the spadebill a really cool-looking tyrant-flycatcher. Good stuff!

601) Tropical gnatcatcher, Polioptila plumbea
602) Band-tailed barbthroat, Threnetes ruckeri
603) Bay wren, Cantorchilus nigricapillus
604) Stub-tailed spadebill, Platyrinchus cancrominus

DAY 14: Bocas del Toro - Cayo Corales & Isla Zapatilla II
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On this day we did a fairly typical touristy Bocas del Toro day, which consists of getting someone with a boat to take you to multiple different islands. We briefly stopped by Isla Perezosos to see a three-toed sloth up close (check), did some snorkelling in Cayo Corales where we saw a few nice fish with the highlight being a tiny yellow stingray, and then spent some time doing nothing on a beach on Isla Zapatilla II. Ideally I had wanted to combine this trip with a quick visit to Isla Pajaros, the only place in America with nesting tropicbirds, but unfortunately there was no more time by the end of the day. I'll have to see those elsewhere! Luckily I had already seen brown boobies on the Pacific side, otherwise I would have missed those as well. What almost made up for not seeing the tropicbirds were two dolphins on our way back to Isla Solarte that gave quite a show and played in the waves created by our boat. The dogs owned by the person driving the boat were very confused and kept barking every time one of the dolphins showed itself, which was a weird but interesting sight!
No new birds or mammals for the year on this day, which marks the first (and only) day of this trip without additions, but I did see a brown pelican which is a different subspecies here than on the Pacific coast.

DAY 15: Bocas del Toro and travelling to El Valle de Anton
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This was a fairly uneventful day, that mainly consisted of the very long drive back to the Central part of the country. Originally our plan was to hire a car in Panama City, drive up to Bocas del Toro and then fly back to the city, but the flights were fairly expensive and dropping off the car near Bocas would also be a bit of a problem, so we decided to drive back. However, since Panama lacks many big roads pretty much the entirety of the way back would be via the same roads that we had already driven in the opposite direction to get here. There weren't many potential stops, so we decided to just do the entire drive in one day and get it over with, arriving at El Valle de Anton by the evening. I was scared that this would turn into another day without additions, but a flyby muscovy duck on Isla Solarte and a large flock of parakeets seen on a quick stop made sure that didn't happen. Interesting were two seabirds loosely following the boat from the island to the mainland that I couldn't quite identify - I'm fairly sure they were large terns, but getting your binoculars on a flying bird while on a speedboat isn't easy!

605) Muscovy duck, Cairina moschata
606) Crimson-fronted parakeet, Psittacara finschi

 

[AWP]

Golden-collared manakin, Manacus vitellinus

I just missed this one! The guide saw one as well as some in the group I did the walk at Quebrada Sal, but I was a bit behind and at the time I arrived at the spot the "Michael Jackson bird" was no longer visible en could only be heared... Tropic birds and boobies (I had seen seen a brown booby in the Pacific region briefly, but multiple boobies including youngs and breeding ones was something completely different) were my bird highlights for Bocas del Toro.

 

[Vision]

I just missed this one! The guide saw one as well as some in the group I did the walk at Quebrada Sal, but I was a bit behind and at the time I arrived at the spot the "Michael Jackson bird" was no longer visible en could only be heared... Tropic birds and boobies (I had seen seen a brown booby in the Pacific region briefly, but multiple boobies including youngs and breeding ones was something completely different) were my bird highlights for Bocas del Toro.

That's always annoying! I suppose it's an inherent part of birding together with others though, there will always be some species that not everyone in the group can see quickly enough, but it's not fun when those species are some of the better ones around. I'm jealous of the nesting tropicbirds and boobies! Did you see large amounts of them there, or only a few?

 

[AWP]

Did you see large amounts of them there, or only a few?

I think I saw two tropicbirds on the rocks of Isla Pajaros and a couple of them flying. Boobies were more numerous. Photos of both species are in the gallery, by the way.

After Isla Pajaros, I went by boat to Canal de Soropta, what turned to be one of the best birding spots of my Panamanian trip. Among the birds seen, was a belted kingfisher, the only species of southern Central American kingfisher I was still missing on my list at that point.

 

[Vision]

After Isla Pajaros, I went by boat to Canal de Soropta, what turned to be one of the best birding spots of my Panamanian trip. Among the birds seen, was a belted kingfisher, the only species of southern Central American kingfisher I was still missing on my list at that point.

Nice! I didn't end up getting that lucky with the kingfishers, with 'only' 4 observations of green and 2 of ringed - still two great species of course! It's interesting how common kingfishers seem to be everywhere in the world except for Europe - even with loads of birding close to water I only ever see about 10 kingfishers in Europe each year...

 

[Vision]

DAY 16: El Valle de Anton - Visiting Zoos
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On this first day in El Valle de Anton (or just El Valle, as it is locally known) I walked around in the neighbourhood for a while and saw a few species I hadn't seen in a while! It was good to see chestnut-headed oropendolas and keel-billed toucans everywhere again, and I was really happy when suddenly I saw a pair of chachalacas with a chick running around on some vines above the path! They were very common in El Valle, and I ended up seeing them on the hotel grounds and throughout the entire village fairly regularly after that.

607) Grey-headed chachalaca, Ortalis cinereiceps

After breakfast, we decided to visit the three small zoos this small city had to offer today.

First up was El Nispero Zoo and Botanical Garden, the only traditional zoo of the day and by far the biggest of the three. El Nispero is quite similar to some of the Asian zoos I've visited in the past, probably the most similar to Gembira Loka zoo even though that is a lot bigger. It's not good or up to modern standards at all and there are a lot of horribly bad things, but at the same time they have obviously tried their best with the newer enclosures and it isn't all bad either. Most of the bird aviaries (and there were quite a lot!) were fairly decent with expected amounts of foliage and perches, but most of them also had full concrete flooring. The bird aviaries were usually not too overstocked, though there were a few exceptions (two emus in a tiny aviary and a large group of amazons in an aviary that should probably only have had 3 or 4). Open-topped enclosures for larger animals like the domestic animals, tapirs, storks etc were decent, and a pair of spider monkey enclosures was even good, with lots of space to climb and even the possibility of (brief) brachiation. Much worse were tiny cages for the carnivores like jaguars, coyotes, raccoons and tayras. Two absolutely appalling cages for capuchin monkeys were probably the worst thing in the zoo, and one of the capuchins (a juvenile) was kept alone and was obviously very close to death; not really something you want to see as a visitor! Despite its very obvious shortcomings and sometimes rather questionable and outdated husbandry, the place did have a few interesting species. The biggest highlights for me were a few local raptors (common black hawk, savanna hawk, white hawk, short-tailed hawk, grey-lined hawk, collared forest falcon), great tinamou, American crocodile, Geoffroy's tamarin, grey fox, coyote, crab-eating raccoon, and the local subspecies of tayra. I've read in other reviews that the best part of the entire zoo is the independently-run amphibian rescue center in a building in the middle of the zoo keeping many rarities, but unfortunately that closed this year... A new wild bird seen in the zoo was a small group of wonderful golden-hooded tanagers.

608) Golden-hooded tanager, Tangara larvata

After that we grabbed some lunch in town and went to Butterfly Haven, a small butterfly garden with a very nice interactive presentation about everything butterflies, and a quick tour through the wonderfully decorated aviary with about two dozen species of native butterflies. A very well-designed and clean park, and definitely a fun place to spend half an hour or so, or more if you like photographing butterflies! In the aviary was a single rufous-tailed hummingbird, a species I hadn't seen in captivity before (but one that is very common in the wild throughout the entire country).

Finally we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in Serpentario Maravillas Tropicales, a local serpentarium. I was hoping to potentially get a few amphibians here, but no luck either - just a few outdoor enclosures for Geoffroy's tamarins, American crocodiles, green iguanas and turtles, and a snake house. The snake house did have a few rarities though, the most interesting being Ruschenberger's tree boa, Phrynonax poecilonotus, yellow ratsnake, Central American coral snake, fer-fe-lance and Lansberg's hog-nosed pit viper. This seemed like a nice enough place, but we had the misfortune that we were there on one of the most stormy days of the entire trip and that everyone in the park was standing in the crowded snake house, meaning you couldn't really see or photograph anything.

After this we wanted to go back to the hotel, but there was one big issue: rain. Entire roads were flooded and there wasn't any sign that it was going to stop soon, so we made the decision to bike back (we had used bikes from the hotel to get to all the different places) through all the rain. This was by far the least fun part of the entire trip and extremely frustrating because I didn't know to what regard my backpack's rain cover would protect my camera, phone and bird guide, and because I fell in the mud at least once, completely drenching everything. The rain did obviously stir up activity with a few birds, though because even though it was only around 5PM I saw a pair of wood rails hastily crossing the road and even a pauraque flying around in broad daylight! Two great additions that did manage to put a smile on my face while biking the rest of the way to the hotel.

609) Grey-necked wood rail, Aramides cajaneus
610) Pauraque, Nyctidromus albicollis

 

[AWP]

we decided to visit the three small zoos this small city had to offer today.

I would be very interested in a list of native species, if it's not to much effort.

I've read in other reviews that the best part of the entire zoo is the independently-run amphibian rescue center in a building in the middle of the zoo keeping many rarities, but unfortunately that closed this year...

Until recently, there were two facilities in Panama for amphibian conservation and breeding projects, EVACC (El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center) at the grounds of Zoo Nispero for western species and one at the grounds of Summit for eastern species. The two facilities are now merged into one center at Gamboa. I don't know if it contains a public section, but (part of) the amphibians at Punta Culebra came from those centers.

 

[Vision]

I would be very interested in a list of native species, if it's not to much effort.

Until recently, there were two facilities in Panama for amphibian conservation and breeding projects, EVACC (El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center) at the grounds of Zoo Nispero for western species and one at the grounds of Summit for eastern species. The two facilities are now merged into one center at Gamboa. I don't know if it contains a public section, but (part of) the amphibians at Punta Culebra came from those centers.

I didn't make a species list in the zoo, but I'll do my best to make one retroactively! I'm not sure if I'll post them in this thread or in another one but they should be up fairly soon.

I had heard about the amphibian species moving, yeah! I was hoping the zoo would have kept the building open with perhaps a few more common species or something, but it was closed and out of use, unfortunately.

 

[Vision]

DAY 17: El Valle De Anton - Town and Cerro Gaital
​

A quick walk in the morning got me more of the same things as the day before, with some more good views of a wood rail and the same toucans, chachalacas and oropendolas as the day before. A seedeater right as we got back to the hotel was the only addition, but quite a nice one at that!

611) Yellow-bellied seedeater, Sporophila nigricollis

After this we headed back into town and visited a local orchard garden. We were there at the wrong time of the year to see them all flowering, but it was still a very impressive fun little place with large amounts of orchids, mainly Panamanian native ones. It looked like it could attract some birds at the right time of the year but it was raining so I didn't see much except for the usual blue-grey tanagers, palm tanagers and rufous-tailed hummingbirds, until I saw a vireo that I couldn't quite place at first.

612) Yellow-green vireo, Vireo flavoviridis

We then drove to the El Chorro Macho waterfalls which also seemed like they'd be a really good place to see some birds, but all I saw here were some more toucans. The waterfalls were impressive though, but perhaps not really worth paying seperately for.

The next stop was Cerro Gaital, a very beautiful national park in which we spent about an hour or so. The area right after the entrance had a very unique vegetation type and proved to be excellent for wildlife, with large amounts of really interesting invertebrates and also good amounts of birds. The highlights here were two species of hermit giving amazing views, an antwren, a group of grosbeaks and a group of green honeycreepers. If we had had more time I would definitely have loved spending it here as it truly was a fantastic place with lots of great species!

613) Green hermit, Phaethornis guy
614) Slaty antwren, Myrmotherula schisticolor
615) Black-faced grosbeak, Caryothraustes poliogaster
616) Green honeycreeper, Chlorophanes spiza

By the end of the afternoon we were then headed to the India Dormida trails to see the Piedras Pintadas, rocks with mysterious petroglyphs. We didn't end up going pretty far along the trail (there were a bit too many suspicious people around the entrance area to our liking) but the petroglyphs were interesting and there were some decent birds around here too, a trio of flyover parakeets being the most interesting. We ended up making the right call earlier when we decided not to walk further along the trail, as when we got to the hotel we heard a story of someone getting robbed further up the trail while we were there... If you visit, definitely pay attention to the people waiting next to the parking lot and even right next to the ticket booth.

617) Brown-hooded parakeet, Pyrilia haematotis

 

[Vision]

DAY 18: El Valle - Guided Birding Tour
​

I suppose I've never really talked about it much, but I mainly like birding abroad for the challenge of it and for the aspect of discovery. I understand why people would pay expensive (or even cheap) guided tours abroad and tick insane amounts of species in a small amount of time, but I don't think it will ever be something for me - the planning, the figuring out where to go next, the identifying, and the finding things yourself is what I love most about travelling somewhere. For this reason I had never really considered doing any guided bird walks throughout this trip, the only two walks where we did have a guide was because it was necessary to have one to access the area, and neither of those guides were really birders.

On this last full day in the country, though, we had practically already done everything we had wanted to do in El Valle, the rest of my family was getting a bit tired of the constant bird obsession, and the hotel offered guided bird walks with a professional birding guide. I figured I'd do the half-day birding tour and see how well I had been able to do on my own in the past 17 days!

Overall the experience was very interesting, and I'm very happy I did do it but I'm also very happy I waited to do it until I knew a lot about the Panamanian wildlife. The guide made some glaringly obvious mistakes in bird identification which, of course, is very important that a guide doesn't do but is also understandable because of his probably mainly non-birding audience. The average person probably doesn't want to pay money to hear the guide say they don't know what they're looking at from time to time, so I get that while guiding you'd rather identify a bit too many birds than too little. However, from a birder's perspective it is sort of weird to call species the wrong name instead of just being honest and saying you don't know what you saw - which is perfectly fine, and a normal part of birding.

For this reason I took everything he said with a grain of salt, and only counted what I saw well enough to identify. This is also the main reason I was happy that I waited until the last day to do a birding tour like this, because on day one I wouldn't have had the knowledge nor courage to correct the guide when he was wrong. It also made it possible for me to look beyond what he was pointing at and find other species than ones he found, making it more of a collective birding experience than a guided walk. Despite a few identification mistakes he was a fantastic guide, though, that knew the local bird calls very well, and also knew the theoretic information about when to head to which areas depending on the weather situation. Local knowledge for specific spots is also something guides are very useful for, and he took us to a few fantastic and very birdy places, where we saw loads of great species, the best of the day being a group of spot-crowned barbets, an emerald tanager and a plain xenops that I found and a group of boat-billed herons, a black-headed saltator and a spectacled owl that he found.

618) Boat-billed heron, Cochlearius cochlearius
619) Rufous-breasted wren, Pheugopedius rutilus
620) Shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis
621) Yellow-crowned euphonia, Euphonia luteicapilla
622) Black-striped sparrow, Arremonops conirostris
623) Lemon-rumped tanager, Ramphocelus icteronotus
624) Spot-crowned barbet, Capito maculicoronatus
625) Spectacled owl, Pulsatrix perspicillata
626) Black-headed saltator, Saltator atriceps
627) Mistletoe tyrannulet, Zimmerius parvus
628) Plain-brown woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa
629) Plain xenops, Xenops minutus
630) Emerald tanager, Tangara florida

Overall this was a fantastic day of birding with a bunch of great new species, and I'd be lying if the wonderful guide, despite a few mistakes, didn't help with seeing a lot of these species. Definitely the Spectacled owl is a species I'm sure I'd never have seen without him, and also definitely one of the species I'll remember the best from the entire trip. Throughout the entire holiday I also submitted practically every bird I saw on the website https://observation.org, which automatically keeps lists and makes it possible for me to say that this day was by far the one with the most species seen (73 bird species, with the next best day having 59). Guided walks are definitely fun and relevant for large lists, but by no means necessary and in my opinion it's more rewarding to find things yourself!

DAY 19: Travelling Back Home
​

Day 18 was the last full day of the trip and in many ways a perfect way to end it all off, but this day was the actual last day, in which we drove from El Valle to Panama City and flew back home. This was a fairly uneventful day, but luckily from the car I saw a bird that I had been scanning the skies for a while for - a white hawk! I had seen one up close in captivity a few days prior, but hadn't gotten a wild one yet. Great way to end it all off!

631) White hawk, Pseudastur albicollis

 

[Vision]

I decided I'd make a list of all species I saw chronologically, starting at 1 from the first species, up to 222 for the last species and including the species I had already seen elsewhere this year prior to the trip.

Spoiler

BIRDS:
1) Western cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
2) Great egret, Ardea alba
3) Black vulture, Coragyps atratus
4) Great-tailed grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus
5) Grey-breasted martin, Progne chalybea
6) Neotropic cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus
7) Tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus
8) Wood stork, Mycteria americana
-
9) Clay-coloured thrush, Turdus grayi
10) Great kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus
11) Feral pigeon, Columba livia
12) Ruddy ground dove, Columbina talpacoti
13) Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl
14) Variable seedeater, Sporophila corvina
15) Crimson-backed tanager, Ramphocelus dimidiatus
16) Palm tanager, Thraupis palmarum
17) Orange-chinned parakeet, Brotogeris jugularis
18) Tropical kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus
19) House wren, Troglodytes aedon
20) White-collared swift, Streptoprocne zonaris
21) Blue-grey tanager, Thraupis episcopus
22) Barred antshrike, Thamnophilus doliatus
23) Pale-vented pigeon, Patagioenas cayennensis
24) Social flycatcher, Myiozetetes similis
25) Red-crowned woodpecker, Melanerpes rubricapillus
26) Lineated woodpecker, Dryocopus lineatus
27) Blue-headed parrot, Pionus menstruus
28) Buff-breasted wren, Cantorchilis leucotis
29) Streaked flycatcher, Myiodynastes maculatus
30) Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura
31) Keel-billed toucan, Ramphastos sulfuratus
32) White-shouldered tanager, Tachyphonus luctuosus
33) Thick-biled euphonia, Euphonia laniirostris
34) Whooping motmot, Momotus subrufescens
35) Red-crowned ant-tanager, Habia rubica
36) Fasciated antshrike, Cymbilaimus lineatus
37) Red-throated ant-tanager, Habia fuscicauda
38) Dusky-capped flycatcher, Myiarchus tuberculifer
39) Short-tailed swift, Chaetura brachyura
40) Fork-tailed flycatcher, Tyrannus savana
41) Magnificent frigatebird, Fregata magnificens
42) Brown pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis
43) American darter, Anhinga anhinga
44) Southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
45) Mangrove swallow, Tachycineta albilinea
46) Garden emerald, Chlorostilbon assimili
47) Striated heron, Butorides striata
48) Lesser kiskadee, Pitangus lictor
49) Yellow-headed caracara, Milvago chimachima
50) Common tody-flycatcher, Todirostrum cinereum
51) Yellow-crowned night heron, Nyctanassa violacea
52) Southern lapwing, Vanellus chilensis
53) Laughing gull, Leucophaeus atricilla
-
54) Red-lored amazon, Amazona autumnalis
55) American white ibis, Eudocimus albus
56) Long-billed hermit, Phaethornis longirostris
57) Slaty-tailed trogon, Trogon massena
58) Checker-throated antwren, Epinecrophylla fulviventris
59) Grey-headed tanager, Eucometis penicillata
60) Cocoa woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus susurrans
61) Scarlet-rumped cacique, Cacicus microrhynchus
62) Yellow-rumped cacique, Cacicus cela
63) Broad-billed motmot, Electron platyrhynchum
64) Black-throated trogon, Trogon rufus
65) Masked tityra, Tityra semifasciata
66) Black-bellied whistling-duck, Dendrocygna autumnalis
67) Scaled pigeon, Patagioenas speciosa
68) Ringed kingfisher, Megaceryle torquata
69) Roadside hawk, Rupornis magnirostris
70) Yellow-crowned amazon, Amazona ochrocephala
-
71) Streaked saltator, Saltator striatipectus
72) Saffron finch, Sicalis flaveola
73) Panamaian flycatcher, Myiarchus panamensis
74) Northern crested caracara, Caracara cheriway
75) Little blue heron, Egretta caerula
76) Willet, Tringa semipalpata
77) Black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
-
78) White-tipped dove, Leptotila verreauxi
79) White-tailed kite, Elanus leucurus
80) Brown booby, Sula leucogaster
81) House sparrow, Passer domesticus
82) Groove-billed ani, Crotophaga sulcirostris
83) Spotted woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus eryhtropygius
84) Boat-billed flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua
-
85) Smooth-billed ani, Crotophaga ani
86) Collared aracari, Pteroglossus torquatus
87) Black-chested jay, Cyanocorax affinis
88) Yellow-faced grassquit, Tiaris olivaceus
89) Black-cheeked woodpecker, Melanerpes pucherani
90) Chestnut-headed oropendola, Psarocolius wagleri
91) Crowned woodnymph, Thalurania colombica
92) Bay-headed tanager, Tangara gyrola
93) Silver-throated tanager, Tangara icterocephala
94) Southern nightingale-wren, Microcerculus marginatus
95) Shining honeycreeper, Cyanerpes lucidus
96) White-necked jacobin, Florisuga mellivora
97) Stripe-throated hermit, Phaethornis striigularis
98) Spot-crowned antvireo, Dysithamnus puncticeps
99) Pale-vented thrush, Turdus obsoletus
100) Purplish-backed quail-dove, Zentrygon lawrencii (heard-only)
101) Rufous motmot, Baryphthengus martii (heard-only)
102) Squirrel cuckoo, Piaya cayana
103) Tawny-capped euphonia, Euphonia anneae
104) Tooth-billed tanager, Piranga lutea
105) Tawny-crested tanager, Tachyphonus delatrii
106) Common black hawk, Buteogallus anthracinus
107) Savanna hawk, Buteogallus meridionalis
108) White-winged dove, Zenaida asiatica
109) Grey-capped flycatcher, Myiozetetes granadensis
110) Bat falcon, Falco rufigularis
-
111) Blue-black grassquit, Volatinia jacarina
112) Sapphire-throated hummingbird, Lepidopyga coeruleogularis
113) Lesser yellow-headed vulture, Cathartes burrovianus
114) American oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus
115) Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus
116) Lance-tailed manakin, Chiroxiphia lanceolata
117) Brown-throated parakeet, Eupsittula pertinax
118) Snowy egret, Egretta thula
-
119) Wattled jacana, Jacana jacana
120) Scaly-breasted hummingbird, Phaeochroa cuvierii
121) Yellow warbler, Setophaga petechia
-
122) Bare-throated tiger heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum
123) Short-billed pigeon, Patagioenas nigrirostris
124) Crested oropendola, Psarocolius decumanus
125) Piratic flycatcher, Legatus leucophaius
126) Rufous-collared sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis
127) Blue ground dove, Claravis pretiosa
128) Red-legged honeycreeper, Cyanerpes cyaneus
129) White-naped brushfinch, Atlapetes albinucha
130) Chestnut-capped brushfinch, Arremon brunneinucha
131) Lesson's motmot, Momotus lessonii
132) Mountain thrush, Turdus plebejus
133) Snowy-bellied hummingbird, Amazilia edward
-
134) Orange-billed nightingale-thrush, Catharus aurantiirostris
135) Flame-coloured tanager, Piranga bidentata
136) White-throated thrush, Turdus assimilis
137) Lesser goldfinch, Spinus psaltria
138) Rufous-capped warbler, Basileuterus rufifrons
139) Lesser greenlet, Hylophilus decurtatus
140) Rufous mourner, Rhytipterna holerythra
141) Isthmian wren, Cantorchilus elutus
142) Buff-throated saltator, Saltator maximus
143) Lesser elaenia, Elaenia chiriquensis
144) Blue-and-white swallow, Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
145) White-throated mountaingem, Lampornis castaneoventris
146) Lesser violetear, Colibri cyanotus
147) Scintillant hummingbird, Selasphorus scintilla
148) Green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula
149) Purple-throated mountaingem, Lampornis calolaemus
150) Yellow-bellied elaenia, Elaenia flavogaster
151) Dark pewee, Contopus lugubris
152) Black-faced solitaire, Myadestes melanops
153) Violet sabrewing, Campylopterus hemileucurus
154) Golden-browed chlorophonia, Chlorophonia callophrys (heard-only)
155) Scarlet-thighed dacnis, Dacnis venusta
156) Swallow-tailed kite, Elanoides forficatus
157) Rufous-and-white wren, Thryophilus rufalbus
158) Mountain elaenia, Elaenia frantzii
159) Scarlet-rumped tanager, Ramphocelus passerinii
-
160) Slate-throated whitestart, Myioborus miniatus
161) Vaux's swift, Chaetura vauxi
162) Acorn woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
163) Elegant euphonia, Euphonia elegantissima
164) Ruddy treerunner, Margarornis rubiginosus
165) Silvery-fronted tapaculo, Scytalopus argentifrons
166) Black guan, Chamaepetes unicolor
167) Ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush, Catharus frantzii
168) Sooty-capped chlorospingus, Chlorospingus pileatus
169) Spot-crowned woodcreeper, Lepidocolaptes affinis
170) Resplendent quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno
171) Collared trogon, Trogon collaris
172) Tufted flycatcher, Mitrephanes phaeocercus
173) Green kingfisher, Chloroceryle americana
174) Black phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
-
175) Band-tailed pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata
176) White-winged tanager, Piranga leucoptera
177) Brown-capped vireo, Vireo leucophrys
178) Bicoloured hawk, Accipiter bicolor
179) Green heron, Butorides virescens
180) Green-breasted mango, Anthracothorax prevostii
181) Blue-chested hummingbird, Amazilia amabilis
182) Tropical pewee, Contopus cinereus
183) Bananaquit, Coereba flaveola
184) Plain-coloured tanager, Tangara inornata
185) White-lined tanager, Tachyphonus rufus
186) Olive-throated parakeet, Eupsittula nana
-
187) Thick-billed seed finch, Oryzoborus funereus
188) Montezuma oropendola, Psarocolius montezuma
189) Giant cowbird, Molothrus oryzivorus
190) Golden-collared manakin, Manacus vitellinus
191) Tropical gnatcatcher, Polioptila plumbea
192) Band-tailed barbthroat, Threnetes ruckeri
193) Bay wren, Cantorchilus nigricapillus
194) Stub-tailed spadebill, Platyrinchus cancrominus
-
195) Muscovy duck, Cairina moschata
196) Crimson-fronted parakeet, Psittacara finschi
-
197) Grey-headed chachalaca, Ortalis cinereiceps
198) Golden-hooded tanager, Tangara larvata
199) Grey-necked wood rail, Aramides cajaneus
200) Pauraque, Nyctidromus albicollis
201) Tropical screech owl, Megascops choliba (heard-only)
-
202) Yellow-bellied seedeater, Sporophila nigricollis
203) Yellow-green vireo, Vireo flavoviridis
204) Green hermit, Phaethornis guy
205) Slaty antwren, Myrmotherula schisticolor
206) Black-faced grosbeak, Caryothraustes poliogaster
207) Green honeycreeper, Chlorophanes spiza
208) Brown-hooded parakeet, Pyrilia haematotis
-
209) Boat-billed heron, Cochlearius cochlearius
210) Rufous-breasted wren, Pheugopedius rutilus
211) Shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis
212) Yellow-crowned euphonia, Euphonia luteicapilla
213) Black-striped sparrow, Arremonops conirostris
214) Lemon-rumped tanager, Ramphocelus icteronotus
215) Spot-crowned barbet, Capito maculicoronatus
216) Spectacled owl, Pulsatrix perspicillata
217) Black-headed saltator, Saltator atriceps
218) Mistletoe tyrannulet, Zimmerius parvus
219) Plain-brown woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa
220) Plain xenops, Xenops minutus
221) Emerald tanager, Tangara florida
-
222) White hawk, Pseudastur albicollis

MAMMALS:
1) Central American agouti, Dasyprocta punctata
-
2) Brown-throated three-toed sloth, Bradypus variegatus
-
3) Variegated squirrel, Sciurus variegatoides
4) White-nosed coati, Nasua narica
5) Red-tailed squirrel, Sciurus granatensis
-
6) Hoffmann's two-toed sloth, Choloepus hoffmanni
-
7) Mantled howler monkey, Alouatta palliata
8) White-faced capuchin, Cebus capucinus
-
9) Western dwarf squirrel, Microsciurus mimulus
-
10) Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus

Pheasants and Primates unfortunately weren't all that relevant during this trip, so instead I'll choose to specifically lay a focus on hummingbirds!

Panama Hummingbird Count - 19
Long-billed hermit, Phaethornis longirostris
Green hermit, Phaethornis guy
Stripe-throated hermit, Phaethornis striigularis
Band-tailed barbthroat, Threnetes ruckeri
-
Blue-chested hummingbird, Amazilia amabilis
Snowy-bellied hummingbird, Amazilia edward
Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl
Sapphire-throated hummingbird, Lepidopyga coeruleogularis
Scaly-breasted hummingbird, Phaeochroa cuvierii
Scintillant hummingbird, Selasphorus scintilla
-
Purple-throated mountaingem, Lampornis calolaemus
White-throated mountaingem, Lampornis castaneoventris
-
Green-breasted mango, Anthracothorax prevostii
Violet sabrewing, Campylopterus hemileucurus
Garden emerald, Chlorostilbon assimili
Lesser violetear, Colibri cyanotus
White-necked jacobin, Florisuga mellivora
Green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula
Crowned woodnymph, Thalurania colombica